After its purchase of Northwest Airlines, Delta is looking to expand its alliance with Alaska Air. Some industry observers think that a takeover might be next.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that the airlines will make a joint statement at a news conference at Seattle-Tacoma Airport on Monday. Delta’s alliance with Alaska Air started in 2004 along with an alliance with Northwest and Horizon. Code sharing by Delta/Northwest extends to more than 100 markets served by Alaska Air and Horizon and code sharing by Alaska covers more than 30 markets served by Delta.
Credit Suisse analyst Daniel McKenzie said that “his firm has not ruled out the possibility of further merger and acquisition activity for Delta in the future” and that JetBlue might also be an appealing target. This will allow the airline to better compete if Continental and United Airlines were to merge.
